Hibs boss disappointed by first loss of his tenure

Published on Tuesday 28 July 2009 09:42

Shamrock Rovers 1 - 0 Hibs DISAPPOINTED? Most certainly. Disheartened? Most definitely not. But today Hibs boss John Hughes was adamant defeat by Shamrock Rovers, the first since he took the reins at Easter Road, had provided plenty of answers to the questions he'd been posing his players.

And he revealed the course of action he plans to take will become evident to them over the coming days as he and assistant Brian Rice work towards that all-important opening fixture against St Mirren a fortnight on Saturday.

Plenty of work, he asserted, remains to be done in the intervening period with stiff tests against Preston North End, Blackburn Rovers and Bolton Wanderers providing the opportunity – as well as long days on the training pitches – to put the finishing touches to the club's pre-season training.

Over the past couple of weeks, Hughes believes, the Hibs support have seen ever-growing signs of the style of play he's attempting to introduce, the accent on passing and moving, and even in defeat at the Tallaght Stadium, Rovers new home on the southern outskirts of Dublin, he felt his message is beginning to get through.

Hibs certainly dominated the opening 45 minutes with their willingness to get on the ball, to get full-backs Darren McCormack and Paul Hanlon down the flanks, their only failing being that little spark of creativity in the final third to open up the home defence.

Perhaps the presence of Merouane Zemmama, the little Moroccan ruled out of this visit to the Republic of Ireland as he didn't possess the required entry visa, might have made all the difference but there will be days throughout the season when the midfielder won't be available for one reason or another and his team-mates will simply have to learn to cope without him.

At times it was a touch reminiscent of Falkirk last season, Hibs enjoying plenty of possession and territory but lacking that cutting edge which would have made all the difference, although it took a superb last-ditch block from Rovers' Jay Denny to deny Derek Riordan who later saw a tremendous effort crash back off goalkeeper Robert Duggan's right-hand post.

Sadly for Hibs, however, Riordan became something of a peripheral figure, flirting round the edges of the action rather than providing the inspiration as he and Colin Nish laboured to make much of an impact, so-much-so they found themselves replaced by Kurtis Byrne and Danny Galbraith on the hour-mark.

Allthough Hibs also had to do without captain Chris Hogg – Sol Bamba took the armband as he formed a new defensive partnership with Steven Thicot – and Ian Murray through injury, Rovers carried no threat at all during the opening period.

But they shocked Hibs as Sean O'Connor pounced on Steven Thicot's headed clearance four minutes after the interval to drill a low shot beyond the startled Yves Ma-Kalambay, the Irish side's one and only effort on target in the entire match.

Hibs stuck to their guns, refusing to abandon their passing game in favour of a more direct route but, again, they rarely troubled Duggan other than a John Rankin free-kick which clipped the outside of a post before Byrne snatched at a late chance to claim a hometown equaliser and allowed the goalkeeper to smother the ball.

Hughes said: "I was disappointed not to get something out of the match. We controlled the game other than ten minutes in the second half but Shamrock Rovers gave us a really good test.

"But I know where I am in terms of pre-season. I have been asking a lot of questions, now I have a lot of answers. We still have a lot of work to do, to get an understanding of what I am after and to do it quicker and see if we can open up teams a bit more. In terms of the full-backs getting forward and getting crosses in it was all there, but the quality needs to be a bit better in that at times we were getting there and hitting the first defender."

Hughes revealed he'll now begin whittling down his squad to concentrate coaching on a restricted number of players. He said: "At the moment we have a squad of about 28 and you are trying to look after all of them. You have to give everyone a chance and I have done that. I am 85 or 90 per cent certain I know what needs to be done.

"What we will be doing over the next week or so is to whittle the squad down. When you are working with lesser numbers it gives you a chance to get the coaching over. What that means is those that aren't part of it will have to work harder to get in and those that are will have to work hard to make sure they stay in.

"I think everyone can see the style of football we are playing, sometimes we come back on ourselves a bit too much when we need to be on the front foot a bit more. But that's what pre-season matches are all about, we need games to find our touch and form."

Hughes could well have pointed out that in stark contrast to his players, who have now shared just three-and-a-half matches, the Irish side, managed by former Hibs star Michael O'Neill, have enjoyed 23 competitive games in League and Cup as well as two friendlies against Newcastle United and Real Madrid in addition to this visit from Hibs which completed their "Festival of Football" designed to celebrate the opening of their Tallaght Stadium which has ended 22 years of a nomadic existence.

As such O'Neill insisted no-one should make too much of this result, adamant that when it gets down to the nitty-gritty , his old club won't be found lacking. He said: "You are always disappointed to lose and I know Yogi in particular will be disappointed. But they will do well. Yogi and Brian Rice will definitely get a bit of spark in to them. I know it will be an enjoyable place to work and that's important.

"They have two really good characters in there but it is difficult to bring players to your club who are going to improve it. That's always the hardest bit but I have no doubts they will do extremely well."

Shamrock Rovers: Duggan, Madden, Ekanem, Maguire, Mok, O'Carroll, Denny, Bradley, O'Connor, McGill (Oladele 67), Johnston. Subs not used: Coleman, Massey, Hyland, McLoughlin.

Hibs: Ma-Kalambay, McCormack (McCann 68), Hanlon, Bamba, Thicot, McBride (Rankin 71), Wotherspoon, Cregg, Nish (Galbraith 60), Riordan (Byrne 60), Stevenson. Subs not used: Flynn, Hogg.

Referee: Phil Caschera.

Attendance: 1600.